How Do Muscles Function?

In our body there are 639 muscles. These muscles are connected to the bones. All these muscles vary in shape and structure. A muscle of medium size contains 10 million cells. All the muscles of the body contain about 6000 million cells. These muscles perform very useful functions in the body from birth to death. Muscles produce heat and help to digest food. They help to take oxygen to the lungs. We cannot walk, speak and take food without muscles. If the muscles stop functioning all the movements of the limbs of our body comes to an end. Therefore we see that the muscles are necessary for us. There are three types of muscles in our body. These are voluntary or striated muscles, involuntary or smooth muscles and cardiac muscles. Most of the muscles of legs, hands, neck and head are voluntary muscles because all these muscles do work according to our wish. Voluntary muscles are made up of many fibres and most of them are attached to the bones called as skeletal muscles. The muscles those work on their own are known as involuntary muscles. We hardly have any control on these muscles. The muscles of stomach and the intestine are involuntary muscles as the process of digestion continues on its own. These muscles help in blood circulation. The cardiac muscle present in heart is also controlled automatically and it is the most important muscle. In 70 years of life heart beats 2500 million times with the help of this muscle.

Do you know how the muscles function in the body?

The muscles of our body gets shrink, when our brain sends a message for some work. In this process the chemical energy of the nutritious substances present in the cells get converted into mechanical energy. It take one tenth of a second to complete contractions of the muscles. As soon as the muscle returns to its usual position, it is again directed by the brain to work and it contracts. Hence due to the repeated contractions of the muscles the body keeps on working continuously.

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